a night ’ s sleep as you can camping the previous night , just north of Stranraer . On the ride , I listened to funny audiobooks to keep my mind focussed and got a call from my wife , giving me some motivating words at around 23:00 hours . The road North was as good as it comes . Tight bends , sweeping bends , long straights , twisty sections , well-lit picturesque coastal villages , and even a hairpin or two over passes .
Over a few hours , the road moved away from the coast and over the high plains of Caithness . I decided to pull the bike over to grab a drink and stretch my less-aching legs . I kicked the side-stand down and cut off the engine . As I got off the bike the only sound I could hear was the slight whirring of the long grass in the light winds . The moon shone brightly in the sky , as my eyes began to focus , I could see the mountains of the highlands in the distance and the refection of a lake in the foreground . For a moment , I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude to be here , in the back of beyond of Scotland , alone with just my bike , living the overlanding dream . As I reached into my cargo-net , sitting atop my back seat holding my tent and other items in place , I couldn ’ t find the water I ’ d purchased at the last stop . I thought I must have popped it in my tank bag for ease .
Upon discovering my water ’ s absence from my tank bag , it started to dawn on me that I was in the middle of nowhere at just before midnight with no water to keep me hydrated for at least another 6-8 hours of riding until a shop would open the next day . Shit . I jumped back on the bike feeling grumpy and thirsty .
I pressed on through the darkness , having my near miss with the deer along the way . I finally reached Thurso , a town on Scotland ’ s Northern tip , around 12:30 . I stopped to check my map and memorised the next twenty-one or so kilometres on to Dunnet Head . Coming off the main road , the gradual climb up to Dunnet Head was winding and narrow . At the sides of my headlight beam I could see patches of long marram grass blowing in the wind and groups of ‘ wild camping ’ tents pitched in between breaks in the heather moorland . I continued up the hill until I frightfully clunked over a cattle grid and into a gravel covered car park road just before 01:00 , 13 hours and 863 kilometres into my ride . Ahead of me was the grand lighthouse of Dunnet Head , blinding me with it ’ s light every so often as my eyes struggled to adjust from the darkness I ’ d just ridden through .
I stopped to take a breath and took my photo with the sign for the most Northerly point in Scotland . I popped the photo on social media and replied to a few unexpected , due to the time , comments before jumping back into my saddle to head back down the hill to look for a camping spot to get a few hours rest before I ’ d carry on . I spent too long and too many U-turns on the singletrack road before I came across a flat patch of ground next to the side of the road that hadn ’ t already been taken . It was just before 02:00 by the time I got my tent up and climbed inside my sleeping bag , setting my alarm to allow me the luxury of 90 minutes sleep before I ’ d need to get up again .
In total I got one hour sleep before my alarm starting blaring from the other side of my tent . I ’ d been anxious about sleeping too long and had struggled to nod-off , feeling pumped full of adrenaline . I had considered just carrying on but knew it was sensible to get rest . As dawn broke and the twilight appeared from just beyond the tip of the lighthouse behind me , I packed up the bike and topped up my fuel with a 5-litre auxiliary petrol can I ’ d been carrying for this leg of the
trip , enough to get me back down to Inverness . I made a swift job of the packing as I was being eaten alive by bugs . I was incredibly thirsty having now been 6 hours since my last drink in Inverness . I was hoping , optimistically , that there may be a shop open in Thurso or another town en-route to Inverness , however leaving Dunnet Head at around 04:00 I was unable to find an open shop for the next few hours .
As I rode back South across the same road I ’ d ridden only a few hours before , I was acutely aware that even though I felt fresh , I ’ d need to keep my wits about me . Around an hour after I ’ d left , I came to a long sweeping bend when I saw in the distance a police car . As I got closer , an officer was waving me to slow down . When I ’ d past I saw a deer at the side of the road in a bad way , then further up an SUV that looked like it had hit a lorry . Thankfully , the family involved look to be ok , but it
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